An Assessment of Anna Wintour’s Political Views

Anna Wintour: the editor-in-chief of American Vogue, the artistic director of Condé Nast and the woman behind the Met Gala is often called the most powerful woman in fashion. Judging by her conservative way of dressing, the fact that she does not have personal social media accounts and her reserved demeanour might indicate that she prefers to keep her political views to herself—not the case. I took a look at some of the biggest controversies of this year and reviewed how she has made her stance known to determine just how political this fashion icon really is.

1. Serena Williams arguing with the refs at the US Open

You may think it’s obvious that Anna would be Team Serena. After all, she attended the tennis legend’s wedding to the co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian. Based on the fact that Anna has now made Serena Williams a host of the 2019 Met Gala, we can only assume what her stance is.

When the courageous survivors stepped forward to state their accusations of Weinstein, his wife, Georgina Chapman, more or less disappeared. Tabloids and magazines alike were publishing speculative articles about her whereabouts and how much she knew about her husband’s horrific behaviour. After many months, a Vogue published an exclusive interview with Chapman on how she met her husband, how much she knew, her fears for her children and her haute couture fashion label, Marchesa. If it wasn’t clear enough that Anna is sympathetic to Chapman with the platform she offered the designer to speak her truth, she also stated on Stephen Colbert her support of Scarlett Johansson wearing Marchesa to the Met Gala, and even stated that Georgina is not to blame for her husband’s behaviour.

3. Michael Kors buying Versace for a whopping 2 billion dollars

There is a lot of outrage over this purchase in the fashion community because Versace is not only one of the only major fashion labels run by a woman, but it is also one of the few couture fashion houses left. Couture is defined by the Google dictionary as “the design and manufacture of fashionable clothes to a client’s specific requirements and measurements.” The controversy is that now that Kors has bought it, people are concerned one of the last standing couture brands will become just an average, overpriced factory-to-store clothing brand. What is Anna Wintour’s stance on the matter? Well, she currently has not said anything openly, but she is known to be extremely close friends with Donatella Versace, even taking family trips together. With this in mind, we can only guess she’s supportive of her friend’s deal.

4. Donald Trump being elected

Just the fact that Anna Wintour hosted and attended fundraising campaigns for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in their own runs for the White House gives you a pretty clear picture. To make things more overt, however, in a round of Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts with James Corden, Anna admitted that Donald Trump is the one person she would never invite back to the Met.

5. Melania Trump’s fashion choices

If you were the person who winced a little bit when Michelle Obama wore designer shoes to help at a soup kitchen, you’re probably in agony with the current First Lady’s tone deaf fashion choices. The real kicker is when she wore a green jacket that read “I really don’t care. do u?” on the back while going to visit immigrant children in detention centres who had been separated from their parents. What is Anna’s take on the First Lady? Well, while Michelle Obama and other former First Ladies like Hillary Clinton have made beautiful appearances in the pages of Vogue (and even the coveted cover spot), Melania has been noticeably absent—ouch!

Carly Grabher is in her fifth year of Creative Writing at The University of Victoria with a minor in Gender Studies. She is the Campus Correspondent of the UVic chapter and has been a contributing writer and editor with Her Campus for four years. In addition to writing articles, Carly formerly danced and worked at Canada's National Ballet School, redesigned the website for The University of Victoria Faculty Association, and worked as the communications and events assistant with UVic's Co-operative Education Program and Career Services.